Panda Pete's Birthday

By Andria Hollis

Eight years ago today, I was sprawled on the floor of the lobby of Miner Elementary School in Northeast DC. With 10 students directing me, I was slopping red, blue, and gold paint on a fiberglass sculpture of a seated panda. As part of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' Pandamania Project, Kid Power was creating Panda "Pete" L'Enfant, our humble homage to DC's first planner. We cemented a tricorner hat to his head, placed a replica map of the original city in his hands, and lovingly polished the buttons on his coat. All these years later, Pete still stands guard over Kid Power and challenges us to be champions of our city's history.